Leadership Update 17
Dear Families,
This week our Years 3, 5 & 7 students have begun NAPLAN. Students completed their Writing and Reading tests, with Conventions of Language and Numeracy scheduled for next week. We are very proud of our students and their efforts.
Please remember that Photo Day is next Monday 17 May. Classes have specific times and family photos will be in the afternoon. Please send your child with their individual photo envelope on the day, these will be collected by the photographer. All payments are made directly to the Photographers, the school does not process any money.
Further to our communication last week about the Uniform Policy, please find the policy attached. Please take a look at it to ensure your child is dressed accordingly. The policy is in place to ensure student safety and equity.
Next Friday, 21 May is the due date for families to submit their online applications for our Year 6 and 7 students for High School. Please find attached the latest update for Year 7 to HS. It is directed mainly at regional schools, but may be of interest to some. If you have any further questions, please contact the front office.
Next weekend our Pedal Prix teams will be riding in races at Tailem Bend. The team have been practising at lunch times and after school in preparation. Today at Assembly the cars were on show and the team shared what they’ve been up to. We wish them all the best and thank their families for supporting them.
On Wednesday Leadership met with our Education Director and the Reviewing Officer who will be conducting the school’s External Review. This meeting was about the process that will be implemented on Monday and Tuesday of Week 5.
We wish you all a warm and cozy weekend.
Kind regards,
Paul and Anthea
National Simultaneous Story time – ‘FROM SPACE’
The ALIA National Simultaneous Storytime will take place on Wednesday May 19 at 10.30 am.
‘Give me some Space’ by Philip Bunting will be read simultaneously by student’s all over Australia.
Student’s also have the opportunity to watch this book being read by astronaut Dr. Shannon Walker from the International Space Station !!
Girls with Autism – Saturday Morning Group
Pedal Prix
Thank you to our Pedal Prix team parents for organising themselves so quickly to ensure our team had their first Victoria Park practice.
Saturday morning saw both cars and most of our riders racing around the city track. Riders had a change to get to know the cars at speed and allowing parents to check out the cars. Riders have 2 more weeks before their first race at The Bend track up at Tailem Bend. We wish them all the best!
Leadership Update #16
This week we have been preparing for NAPLAN. Our Year 3, 5 & 7 students will be sitting these tests over the next two weeks. Classrooms have been learning how to navigate the online system. Timetables have been created and sent to all classes.
We would like to welcome our new Groundsman, Len Gatenby to our community. He has already made a start with familiarising himself with the job specifications and getting to know the school in general. A big thank you to all of our wonderful community members for helping out. Nigel Cock has been mowing, poisoning weeds, line marking for the oval and much more. It has been greatly appreciated and really got us out of a pickle, superb job.
Another big thank you to Paul and Helen Morgan. Paul managed to fix our ride on lawn mower and has ‘tag and tested’ the electrical equipment in the sports canteen. Helen worked her magic on our broken dishwasher in the staffroom. We definitely have some talented parents in our community and the fact that they donated their time to care for our school is commendable.
Learning Conversations have concluded this week and thank you to all those families who were able to attend a meeting with their child and classroom teacher. These conversations are valuable in establishing a strong relationship between home and school.
With registrations of interest now open for families to apply for their year 6 or 7 child to start High School in 2022, you may have some questions. The Department has released some new online resources for families which can be found via this link: www.education.sa.gov.au/7toHS
On Monday of Week 4, 17 May, our students will be having their school photos. Order forms were sent home early in the week, please bring these on the day.
Just a reminder that the staff carpark is not an area to drop off or pick up students due to the high volume of traffic coming in and out of that area and please follow relevant signage in the ‘Kiss and Drop’ Zone. The council periodically patrols the area and fines may be issued for unattended vehicles.
It has been noticed that a number of our students have not been adhering to the Uniform Policy and have been wearing sports shorts. Please remind your children to wear appropriate clothing that meets the school uniform policy.
Thank you to our Fundraising Committee and volunteers for their efforts in organising our Mother’s Day Stall. It’s a fantastic opportunity for children to purchase a special gift to show their appreciation.
We wish all the Mothers and Significant Carers a relaxing and spoilt day on Sunday, have a great weekend.
Kind regards,
Paul and Anthea
Drawing Club
Drawing Club has started this term at lunch time on Wednesday’s and Friday’s in the Resource Centre.
This week we drew ‘Bubbles’ on black paper using ‘Inktense’ pencils (High pigment coloured pencils).
Any-one who loves drawing is very welcome to come along !!
Leadership Update #15
Dear Families,
Welcome to Term 2, we hope to continue with our successful start to the year!
Sam Matthews, our Groundsman, has won a job in bio security with PIRSA. We wish him good luck with this endeavour. We are currently looking to fill this position for the rest of this term.
Anthea Bartlett will continue in her role as Deputy Principal for the remainder of the year as will Jackie Wood in the Reception/Year 1 class.
We welcome Danielle Butcher to our team who will be co teaching with Merri James in our Year 2/3 class.
We wish to congratulate Hazel Robertson on winning the position of Principal at Echunga Primary School. Mrs Robertson will be sorely missed at HVPS, we wish her all the best!
Hi there,
I wanted to reach out to you all and say a final farewell as I start my tenure at Echunga Primary. I have very much enjoyed my time at Happy Valley Primary and I want to say a big thank you for making me feel so welcomed.
Happy Valley is a special school community with supportive families and Governing Council, dedicated staff and amazing students. I will miss you all and hope to pop in and visit from
time to time.
Wishing everyone a great 2021 and beyond.
Warm regards,
Hazel Robertson
Yesterday HVPS competed in the Southern Valley Cross Country Day. HVPS started really well dominating the under 10 girls and boys. The older kids put in a great effort representing our school and were very excited to hear that we took out the Small Schools Shield. HVPS would have come 3rd overall if we were in the large schools. We had 8 year olds Liana, Tilly and Jack win medals even though they were underage as well as Mia and Beau. The following students will now represent Southern Valley at the State Cross Country Championships at Oakbank later this term. Mia.W, Ava, Beau, Braxton, Della and Mia C.
What a terrific effort from everyone involved and thank you to the parent volunteers for driving and chaperoning students, we can’t do it without you! Big thanks to Dean Carter for his organisation, enthusiasm, dedication and support for our students.
This week our Year 6 and 7 students received some information about moving to secondary school and the process for application. Families would have received a unique email for the identifying the children’s preferred school. Please find an update about the process below.
This week our Learning Conversations started for all year levels. Thank you to those families who have already attended and we look forward to continuing to share our student’s learning. This opportunity for a 1:1 interview is highly valuable for students, parents and teachers as it provides everyone with the opportunity to reflect on progress to date and be able to identify goals to work towards for the rest of the semester.
The Department continues to require visitors to check in using the QR codes in Term 2 as part of COVID-19 procedures. These are positioned throughout the school and near classroom doors. Thank you for your cooperation.
This term our school will be completing the NAPLAN online testing from May 10 to May 21, parent information can be found below. We will also be conducting the Australian Early Development Census – the AEDC. It’s a national census that measures development in groups of children in their first year of full-time school.
On Monday of Week 4, 17 May, our students will be having their school photos. Order forms were sent home early in the week, please bring these on the day.
This term our school will be undergoing an External Review as part of the Department for Education’s ongoing commitment to improvement. We look forward to showcasing our school, its programs and facilities with the review team. This will occur in Week 5, with a pre-review in Week 3.
Here is a photo of Mrs Lawson and Mrs Taylor’s class enjoying the last of this lovely warm Autumn weather. We hope you have just as much fun over the weekend as they did today!
Kind regards,
Paul and Anthea
Leadership Update #13
Dear Families,
We hope our families had a relaxing Easter break and you were all able to take some time to spend with family and friends. We recognise that our students have had a long and busy term and the mini break was just what we needed!
Tuesday night our school hosted two Kidz Biz Family Evening Sessions. Keryn Carter ran the sessions which focused on where babies come from and a second session for older students with a focus on puberty. Thank you for the families who attended, we had a fantastic turn out with 55 attendees in the first session and 40 in the second. After the information sessions, Keryn had a range of publications to support families at home. Thank you Keryn!
The bookings for Learning Conversations have now closed. These will be conducted early next term. We look forward to the opportunity for our students to reflect on their learning with their families and teachers. If your circumstances change and you are not able to attend a booked session, please get in contact with your classroom teacher as soon as possible.
On Wednesday we had a visit from students and staff at Reynella East College. Our year 6 and 7 students met with the peer support students who delivered the REC Roadshow, an interactive presentation about what school life is like for students and the programs they offer.
This visit supports our year 6 and 7 students with their transition to high school.
The Department continues to require visitors to check in using the QR codes in Term 2 as part of COVID-19 procedures. These are positioned throughout the school and near classroom doors. Thank you for your cooperation.
Next term our school will be completing the NAPLAN online testing from May 10 to May 21.
In Weeks 1 and 2 of Term 2, our Year 4 to 7 students will be attending Growth and Development sessions as part of the Australian Curriculum.
Along with most schools around the country, our school has been asked to participate in the fourth Australian Early Development Census – the AEDC. It’s a national census that measures development in groups of children in their first year of full-time school.
In Term 2 we welcome Danielle Butcher to our teaching staff. Danielle will be working with Merri James in Room 18 on Thursdays and Fridays.
On Monday of Week 4, 17 May, our students will be having their school photos. Order forms will be available early next term. Please add the date to your diary.
Next term our school will be undergoing an External Review as part of the Department for Education’s ongoing commitment to improvement. We look forward to showcasing our school, its programs and facilities with the review team.
It has been a busy Term 1 with JP Water Safety Week, UP Aquatics, Sports Day, the year 4/5 camp to Arbury Park, MP Water Safety Week just to name a few. We look forward to continuing the learning in our classrooms. We will continue to focus on our school values of Respect, Responsibilities and Integrity.
We wish you all a happy and safe holidays. Take care and we will see you all on Tuesday 27 April.
Kind regards,
Paul and Anthea
Year 4/5 Camp
Between 22nd-24th March 2021, the Year 4/5 students from Miss Bosworth’s and Mr Wright’s classrooms attended camp at Arbury Park Outdoor School. The focus throughout the camp was teamwork, persistence and understanding our environment.
Students were involved in a range of activities throughout the 3 days such as: freshwater life, orienteering, Aboriginal cultural studies, shelter building, earth art, nesting boxes, Mount George hike.
Our students were very sustainable during their trip. They ensured lights were switched off when they were not in the room and conserved water. We were allocated 27L per person for our camp and only ended up using 16L per person.
Students learnt about some of the tools Aboriginal people used and had a go at making fire using soft and hard wood.
On our first night we had Trent Hill come to visit us to share his knowledge about Aboriginal tools and tell us a story around a campfire.
On our second day a group of us woke up early and climbed to the top of one of the hills so we could view the sunrise before breakfast.
Some student chose to participate in the Mount George hike. This took approximately 3 hours and was 6km. Others participated in a walk to Bridgewater.
In the afternoon, some students went into the magic forest to do Earth Art.
‘One of my favourite bits about camp was Shelter Building because it hits home for me as I used to do it all the time.’ Isabella
‘In Freshwater Life I liked looking at the little fish that you couldn’t see through the microscopes.’ Ruby B
‘My favourite bit was the Mount George Hike because it made me go out in nature more than I would.’ Evie
‘I liked the Mount George Hike as it made me go out of comfort zone.’ Miky
‘I enjoyed the Discover Arbury Park because you can get better at map reading and orienteering when you’re lost.’ Elle
‘I really enjoyed the orienteering because we got to explore around the camp.’ Ava
We are very appreciate of our parent volunteers who helped out for the duration of the camp and to the educators at Arbury Park Outdoor School.
We all enjoyed our time, learnt a lot of important skills and have made memories that will last a lifetime!